* En anglais uniquement
Although not really a jazz singer,
Herb Jeffries was the last surviving member of the 1940
Duke Ellington Orchestra and a fine interpreter of swing songs and ballads. He performed with
Erskine Tate in the early '30s,
Earl Hines (1931-1934), and
Blanche Calloway before becoming the first Black cowboy actor in a series of '30s Westerns. He gained his greatest fame while with
Ellington (1940-1942), having a big hit in "Flamingo."
Jeffries, who recorded with
Sidney Bechet in 1940, worked as a single artist after leaving
Ellington in 1942, recording on an occasional basis and remaining active into the mid-'90s. He died, reportedly of heart failure, on May 25, 2014 in West Hills, California. ~ Scott Yanow